Almost 4.400 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Croatia during the last 24 hours, a slight decrease from the record-breaking 4620 from the day before. The numbers show a continuing negative trend that has now pushed the total number of current cases just over 25.000. Croatian officials are hopeful that the worst spike in the number of infected which had plagued the country in the last several weeks will be eventually reduced in the coming days due to the preventive lockdown measures that had been put into action on November 28. The measures, which shut down most of the local service industry, apart from shopping malls and grocery shops, are expected to make a dent in the number new cases as early as tomorrow, when 14 days are set to expire following the implementation of the lockdown.
The lockdown measures, originally set to expire on December 21, are now looking likely to stay in place well beyond the set date, and are expected to extend into January 2021, well beyond the holiday season. Though not yet official, the likely extension means a cancellation of all the Christmas Fairs in the country, which were rumored to be opened nation-wide shortly before Christmas.
The 449 new daily cases in the Split-Dalmatian county, sees the county as one of the worst affected in the country, behind only to the city of Zagreb and the Zagreb county.